Cause of Deadly School Bus Accident in Denver Unknown

Posted By
The Gilbert Law Group

An Adams County school bus driver lost her life on Sunday, September 11th, after her school bus collided with a concrete fixture at the Denver International
Airport. The driver had just picked up 28 members of the Legacy High School
football team, as well as four adult supervisors. Initial reports state
that along with the driver losing her life, 15 other passengers required
hospitalization, 2 in critical condition and 2 in serious condition.

The cause of the accident is not known at this time. The late bus driver’s
husband has stated adamantly that his wife had never experienced a serious
health problem, did not use medication, and had no history of drug abuse.
Investigators have not ruled out that a mechanical failure could be the
cause of the crash. The driver had been employed for more than four years
and had a clean record.

School Bus Safety Features Lacking

Images of the crash site shows a major portion of the front of the bus
having completely crumpled and collapsed. There are also scrapes along
the concrete pillar, suggesting it was not a full-frontal impact. Many
other vehicles traveling at the apparent speed of the school bus likely
would not have sustained such extensive damage and could have protected
the driver and passenger from serious injury.

The accident and its consequences highlight pressing issues with school
bus safety and designs. Crush zones on school buses are essentially nonexistent,
meaning any impact is transferred to occupants, rather than the vehicle
itself. A complete lack of seatbelts also likely caused passengers in
this accident to suffer injuries that would have been entirely prevented
had there been safety belts. This has been an issue with school bus safety
for decades, and yet no actions have been taken to implement them.

At The Gilbert Law Group®, P.C., as one of the nation’s leading
auto defect law firms, our Denver auto accident lawyers are interested in how this
case will develop. If it can be concluded that a lack of bus safety features
or poor bus design caused the accident or worsened the injuries, it might
finally be the case that makes legislators push for revision. For more
information about the bus accident case, you can visit
The Denver Post for their article by
clicking here. To learn about our law firm’s work, or to retain our help with
an injury case of your own, you can
contact us online or call
888.711.5947 for a
free consultation.